This is a collection of news about border issues, particularly those seen from Arizona and regarding the right to keep and bear arms. Sources often include Mexican media. It's often interesting to see how different the view is from the south.
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When investigators served search warrants in central and southern Arizona Oct. 13, they recovered two firearms that had been sold as part of Operation Fast and Furious, the discredited investigation into gun smuggling.But any further details are proving hard to find.The Pinal County Sheriff's Office confirmed that the two firearms were among the 108 seized as part of Operation Pipeline Express, the investigation of an Arizona smuggling group linked to the Sinaloa cartel.Homeland Security agents as well as Pinal County deputies and others carried out 12 searches Oct. 13: Six in Casa Grande, two in Stanfield, and one each in Phoenix, Tucson, Marana and on the Gila River Indian Reservation.Where the weapons were found and what sort of guns they were is as yet unknown. Drew Wade, a Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives spokesman, told me his agency is prohibited by law from revealing gun-trace results and referred me to Immigration and Customs Enforcement. But ICE, as that agency is unknown, initially said that information is ATF's responsibility and so far has no other comment.The issue is turning into another battle in Sheriff Paul Babeu's ongoing rhetorical war with the federal government. On the NRA's "Cam & Company" show Wednesday, Babeu criticized a federal agent at the Nov. 1 press conference for not discussing the two firearms."When we announced this, and one of the leaders in ICE, he tried to just make like 'There's nothing here for you to see. Just move on! Move along!' "This was an apparent reference to Matt Allen, the special agent in charge of ICE's investigation's branch in Arizona.His voice rising, Babeu, who is exploring a possible run for Congress, went on: "And then I told the truth! I confirmed the fact that this is what happened because you know what? I don't work for these people."Since he emerged in public in April 2010 as an outspoken Arizona official on border issues, Babeu has repeatedly attacked the federal government's efforts to address border security needs. More recently, he's focused his critique of the federal government on the disgraced Operation Fast and Furious, a 2009-2010 investigation in which ATF investigators allowed gun-smugglers to buy about 2,000 weapons for Mexican drug traffickers.It's unclear how many guns made it to Mexico as part of Fast and Furious, but at least 400 of the 2,000 have been confiscated in the United States or Mexico. Two of those were recovered at the scene near Rio Rico of the Dec. 14 murder of U.S. Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry.